Sunday Night Cooking and the 4th of July

Sunday

We work late, it seems. I have been tired and took a nap. We went for a short ride afterwards. Tommy got to skip watering as it sprinkled a bit. The wave petunias were looking ragged, so I trimmed all but two "branches" and gave it a drink of Miracle-Gro. It should recover. 

We cook late:

12 boneless, skinless thighs

6 chicken tenders

3 lbs. ground beef chopped and cooked with onions, salt, and pepper

4 shoulder ribs ? or some such with garlic powder, salt and pepper

2.5 lbs. ground pork and beef made into meatloaf

12 chicken Italian sausages cooked and stored in refrigerator

Most of the chicken thighs will be frozen one portion at a time. A couple of the tiny ones will be frozen together for a portion. The tenders are for me to eat now this week. The ground beef he is chopping and cooking with onions will be for spaghetti or whatever. He also puts it on his plate to eat or in a sandwich. Ground pork and beef are going into a meatloaf tonight. The Italian sausages are for him to use in wraps or whatever he decides. He has really taken to wraps. There are four hamburgers in the refrigerator for tomorrow. 

It was really helpful to have the onions and bell pepper chopped on Saturday. I try to do that since all I have to do is mix things instead of needing to chop. 

We finished a little after 3 am. This was not our intention, but we just kept going, cooking all the meat so it would be ready to eat. Sunday, the plan is to freeze most of the meat. I told Tommy to put a dish of meat in the refrigerator, putting a cloth underneath it so the heat would not affect the refrigerator shelf. Well, I turned off the kitchen light, turned around, and there were two dishes of meat on the counter! 

The last 45 minutes of the marathon meat cooking event was spent washing out pots and pans. Tommy said it would be easier to wash now than letting it sit until morning. Besides, he is very much on top of keeping any tiny morsels of meat from the drain. We save all plastic bags. Some from Amazon are perfect for putting liquids from kitchen cooking into and then into the trash. I have taught him well. He was totally oblivious to these dangers for his drains and sewage before I warned him. He religiously uses the strainer for the drain. 

All day Sunday we have not seen or heard a dog from next door. The dog across the street barked for about 15 seconds because his people came home. Someone was shooting off fireworks far in the distance. Sunday night, the fireworks were on this street. I waited too late to go see them. Then, they quit at 10 pm. So, it could have been in the park. 

The park backs up to houses across the street. It can get very noisy with music I cannot stand. But, at the stroke of 10pm, it is shut down. So, it is not hard to endure, knowing when it will end. 

The 4th of July

Despite our late night, I was up just before 10 am. I mixed coleslaw and made baked beans. Now, at 4 pm, we will prepare vegetables for baking and eating all week or until they are gone--potatoes, carrots, zucchini, carrots, celery. The squash is already baked. 

So, our meal will be hamburgers or maybe ribs, cole slaw, baked beans, baked vegetables. It is too late for me to commit to making potato salad, but Tommy won't eat it or miss it. I will boil the eggs, and chop pickles and celery. So, that will be for tomorrow. Tommy just said he will have ribs. The hamburgers do need to be cooked, anyway. 

We have not seen or heard from the dogs tpday. The kids are still waving at us. Now, for dark and random fireworks and our sparklers. If it does not rain by 7 pm, Tommy will water. He always roots for a bit of rain. None of the meat is going to spoil, so Tuesday may be the day we freeze it. 

This was an uneventful 4th and we like it that way. How was your day?